Chapter 44 Next time, please don't send prohibited messages, please...
Meng Zhuxi has grown up and is no longer the little child she once was, who could be used as a tool by her older brother at will.
Although she was somewhat tempted by the large apartment by the river, the young woman was shrewd. She was about to graduate, and with the New Year's red envelopes and the property certificate upon graduation, how could she not own a house?
Meng Zhuxi refused her brother with great pride.
“You can take the IELTS test yourself.” She added with a hint of schadenfreude, “But Professor Jin Zhao probably won’t have time to tutor you.”
Meng Yanxi lifted her eyelids, looking at her with an unreadable expression.
Based on Meng Zhuxi's understanding of her brother, at times like this, the big capitalist is usually harboring malicious intentions and trying to find a way to make her submit.
Meng Zhuxi thought to himself, "One hundred million."
Give her 100 million yuan and she'll agree to take the IELTS exam, since it doesn't matter what score she gets.
I heard that if you make a lot of money, you should do good deeds. So when she earns 100 million from Meng Yanxi, she will give half of it to Teacher Jin Zhao and remind her not to be deceived by that scumbag Meng Yanxi.
In less than a minute, Meng Zhuxi had already figured out how to divide the 100 million.
But her brother was right about one thing: he just had a lot of money, he wasn't stupid. In fact, he was quite wicked.
Meng Yanxi suddenly laughed, and said arrogantly and maliciously, "My IELTS score is 8.5."
Meng Zhuxi: "..."
What level is an IELTS score of 8.5? It surpasses 99.99% of people and is extremely close to native speakers with high proficiency. Or, to put it more simply, it's a level that a mediocre student like Meng Zhuxi could never reach in his lifetime.
But Meng Zhuxi was just a poor student; she wasn't without self-respect. Meng Yanxi's IELTS score of 8.5 ultimately dealt her a huge blow.
The brother and sister's talks broke down.
*
Jin Zhao was unaware that Meng Yanxi had already arrived at school. After the fourth period in the morning, she was about to go to lunch when a student repeating the general English class came to find her.
AI-assisted teaching is now prevalent, especially in language subjects. A single course often requires the use of several apps, all of which need to be authorized by the teacher. After all this, it was already 12:30 PM, and Jin Zhao couldn't go for lunch. He hurried to the School of Foreign Languages to attend a meeting.
There was a student cafeteria right across from the Foreign Languages Department. Jin Zhao went in and hurriedly bought a cup of sweet fermented rice balls. She drank it as she left, not even noticing her boyfriend sitting by the window.
Meng Zhuxi left after finishing her meal. Before leaving, she was still angry with him, saying, "I'm going back to my dorm. Although the dorm isn't as nice as the big apartment, the dorm doesn't mind that my IELTS score isn't 8.5. Goodbye, IELTS 8.5."
Meng Yanxi didn't stand on ceremony with her and said, "As your brother, I don't mind that you don't have an IELTS score of 8.5, but an IELTS score of 8.5 is indeed an honor. You can introduce your brother with an IELTS score of 8.5 to your teachers and classmates in class, and they will naturally think more highly of you."
Meng Zhuxi: "..."
In this battle between siblings, Meng Zhuxi was ultimately defeated by Meng Yanxi's shamelessness and thick skin.
Meng Yanxi thus earned the privilege of sitting by the window waiting for his girlfriend.
Across the street is the School of Foreign Languages, a building constructed during the Republic of China era, with red bricks and green tiles. The administration building does not serve as a classroom. Meng Yanxi stared at it for a while; no students went in or out, only a few teachers occasionally.
He was getting a little bored and was about to text his girlfriend when he turned around and saw a slender, graceful figure hurrying in from the cafeteria entrance.
She wore a hazy blue trench coat over a beige dress, her waist slender and delicate, and strands of hair barely obscuring her fair and gentle profile.
Meng Yanxi tightened her grip on the table and straightened her back.
What a coincidence!
For a fleeting moment, he thought it was a hallucination, after all, his girlfriend had been appearing in his dreams far too frequently lately. Especially last night, during his not-so-long sleep, she clung to him all night.
His gaze followed her as she hurried to the window selling fermented rice balls, bought a cup, and quickly left.
Even though his gaze was so direct and intense that even the students passing by glanced at him, his girlfriend didn't look at him at all and left with a detached and indifferent expression.
During this process, a shoulder strap of her commuter bag slipped down, revealing several textbooks lying open inside. She even pulled on it without looking at them.
Although she knew she was rushing to a meeting, Meng Yanxi was still so annoyed by this complete disregard that she laughed.
It's not an important meeting, just a departmental meeting held every two weeks. The department head conveys the thoughts of the higher-ups, talks about the recent teaching and research situation, and assigns tasks to the teachers if necessary.
The department head was a middle-aged woman in her fifties. She spoke very gently and loved to smile. She first tallied up the papers that the teachers had recently published and the research projects they had applied for.
I feel a little ashamed. As the only new teacher in the past two years, Jin Zhao has not yet applied for a project. However, her paper has made progress. The department head said some encouraging words and, considering that Jin Zhao's title is not yet sufficient to lead a project, suggested that she form a team with other teachers.
Jin Zhao smiled and said okay.
The conversation shifted from scientific research to a teaching incident. Although it didn't involve this school, it concerns teacher ethics and conduct, and has already generated significant public discussion online.
One case involved a teacher and student having a romantic relationship that was made into a PowerPoint presentation and exposed online. This was entirely their own fault, and there's not much to say about it.
Another case was much worse: a teacher's class was maliciously recorded and edited by a student, who then posted the recording online and publicly reported the incident.
The leader's message is for teachers to take this as a warning, not only to uphold the red line of professional ethics and conduct, but also to pay attention to their words and actions to avoid causing public opinion incidents.
The next few tasks are not closely related to teaching. The school usually assigns these tasks to the colleges on a regular basis, and the teachers work together to complete them.
One is school-enterprise cooperation, and the other is lecture invitations.
Tasks unrelated to teaching are usually considered a hot potato, with no one willing to take them on, and they end up being assigned to everyone. As a new teacher who had done the least amount of work since joining the company, Jin Zhao successfully received the task of inviting people to give lectures.
Jin Zhao was really in a dilemma, and the department head probably noticed it too. Later, after the meeting ended, the teachers left together, and the department head took the initiative to comfort her: "Actually, it's okay. The school just holds lectures for students regularly. As for these lectures, they can be big or small. If you really don't have the resources, you can invite colleagues from outside the school to give an academic report to English majors within our college. As for the cost, you can rest assured. As long as you can afford it, our school is very generous in this regard."
Jin Zhao smiled with difficulty and said, "...Isn't it because I can't get anyone to come? I went abroad for my master's degree, and all the professors and colleagues I knew are overseas. I just returned to China now and don't know anyone. I really don't have any connections at all."
Other teachers offered her advice: "Do you know any overseas Chinese? They happen to be in China, so you could invite them over to share their life stories."
Jin Zhao was both amused and exasperated.
As luck would have it, she hoped her advisor would happen to be in China so he could come and give a lecture for her.
Another teacher suddenly said, "I remember last time it was Professor Sun's turn, she didn't have many connections either, so she ended up inviting her husband directly. Her husband is an entrepreneur. Although he has nothing to do with academia, he is rich, very famous, and very popular with students. He even gave a lecture at the Celebrity Lecture Series, which was packed to capacity."
Teacher Sun is a teacher who is on maternity leave this semester. Like Jin Zhao, she is a young teacher. No wonder she has no connections and needs to bring her husband along to make up the numbers.
But Jin Zhao is even worse off than Teacher Sun; at least Teacher Sun has her husband to help her out.
"I would like to have a husband," Jin Zhao joked softly.
The director, with his sharp ears, immediately smiled and said, "Then you need to go out and meet more people. How are you going to find a husband if you never socialize? Last week, the school organized an autumn outing, and I don't think you participated, did you? You should participate in more activities like this."
That's how it is for girls of marriageable age; they're constantly being pressured to get married wherever they go.
Jin Zhao subconsciously wanted to say that she already had a boyfriend, but perhaps because she was reserved and not used to sharing, or perhaps because the teachers quickly changed the subject, she didn't say it in the end.
Everyone chatted and laughed as they walked out of the office, and soon went their separate ways.
Jin Zhao finally had time to check his phone.
After that voice message in the morning, Meng Yanxi didn't reply to her messages again. Looking at the quiet phone screen, she felt a strange emptiness and anxiety in her heart.
Open your phone.
Meng Yanxi was pinned to the top of her WeChat chat. She looked down and typed for a long time, deleting and retyping, but in the end, she couldn't type out a single sentence.
A white bubble pops up in the dialog box.
Meng Yanxi: [?]
It was just a question mark, but because it was from him, Jin Zhao's heart skipped a beat.
Immediately afterwards, another white bubble popped up.
Meng Yanxi: [What prohibited words did you send me? I've blocked you on WeChat.]
Jin Zhao stared blankly at the screen, then typed out two words in confusion: 【What?】
Meng Yanxi: [Turns around.]
Action precedes thought; now Zhao suddenly turns his head.
There's a goldenrain tree at the entrance of the School of Foreign Languages. It's the season when the tree bears fruit, and the branches are laden with bright orange capsules. When the wind blows, the goldenrain fruits sway gently, rustling softly.
Meng Yanxi stood under the tree, holding her phone. When she turned around, he was looking up from the screen.
Their eyes met.
The wind blew down the goldenrain tree fruits, which, like small lanterns, drifted gently down in their sight.
In that instant, Jin Zhao seemed to see another version of himself, a more passionate version of himself, running happily towards him and throwing himself into his arms.
But in reality, she remained restrained and calm. She simply stood there, watching with surprise as Meng Yanxi strode towards her with her long legs.
His gaze fell on her; she seemed aloof and arrogant.
"Don't send prohibited messages next time. They're hard to see and can easily get your account banned. Just tell me what you want to say."
Jin Zhao: "..."
It's obvious he knows everything; he's deliberately misrepresenting the facts.
This person can be really wicked at times; there's a wicked streak deep down.
But she still really liked it.
She smiled faintly, offering no explanation, and reached out to gently grasp his hand.
"When did you arrive?" She looked up at him with longing.
His girlfriend was so easy to bully that Meng Yanxi couldn't bring himself to do it. He chuckled, pulled her into his arms, and walked forward with one arm around her waist.
"I've been here for a while," he said.
Their tone softened unconsciously because of the intimate embrace.
"A little while?" Jin Zhao looked up at him from his arms.
"Well, not long after, when your director was planning to introduce you to a boyfriend, and you gladly accepted."
"..."
I've been called a deer and mistaken for a horse again.
Jin Zhao explained good-naturedly, "She didn't introduce me to a boyfriend, and I didn't readily accept. She just said I should have gone on an autumn outing last week."
Meng Yanxi: "Really? That's roughly the idea."
“Yes.” Jin Zhao paused for a moment and said softly, “And I have a boyfriend, and I like him very much.”
After she finished speaking, the air fell silent. Meng Yanxi, who was always quick to speak, stopped and stopped walking.
She turned her head and met his gaze.
He lowered his eyes, his peach blossom eyes were dark, his gaze was very low, first on her eyes, then slowly moved down to the tip of her nose, and then to her lips.
He hadn't done anything, he was just looking at her, and suddenly her heart felt hot and her heart was beating very fast.
Her gaze seemed to have its own consciousness, involuntarily fixed on his lips.
The wind was slightly chilly as autumn turned to winter, and a student rode his bicycle past her not far away.
It was a safe distance; he wouldn't bump into her. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
The man's chest muscles were hard, tight, and firm, warm to the touch, and his breath carried the scent of cold mountain pine mist. Her mind went blank for a moment, and she raised her hand to hug his waist.
The student quickly rode away on her bike, but Meng Yanxi did not let go of her.
The stolen embrace on campus lasted a little too long. With people coming and going, Teacher Jin Zhao, a role model for students, began to feel a little guilty.
"I'll hold you a little longer, I'm getting a bit tired."
Noticing her distraction, he made up an excuse. He meant to say that he was getting tired of waiting for her, since he had arrived at 10 a.m. and it was already 3:30 p.m.
But Jin Zhao had no idea that he had been waiting for so long. She whispered in his arms, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
He thought for a moment and said, "We'll see."
Jin Zhao: "Hmm?"
"I slept very well in my dream," Meng Yanxi said, emphasizing each word.
Jin Zhao: "Did you sleep well in your dreams?"
Meng Yanxi: "Yes, I had that dream of yours."
Jin Zhao looked up and met his direct gaze. Then, as if realizing something, her face flushed red.
Later, Meng Yanxi went to the parking lot to get her car, and the two walked hand in hand on campus.
Meng Yanxi casually asked, "Are you looking for someone to give a lecture?"
"It's so frustrating to talk about this," Jin Zhao said, biting his lip in annoyance. "Yeah, I have absolutely no connections."
Meng Yanxi turned her head to look at her, but didn't say anything.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, Jin Zhao's eyes filled with no ulterior motives.
Meng Yanxi was so angry she laughed, and asked bluntly, "Am I not worthy to be your contact?"
Jin Zhao belatedly realized what was happening, and in an instant, a feeling of surprise and joy washed over him.
"Is it okay?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.
If Meng Yanxi can come, not only will the lecture hall be packed, but the entire Suishi will probably be packed.
But based on his understanding of Meng Yanxi, he knew that Meng Yanxi was aloof at heart and didn't like such noisy scenes. Even at the last donation ceremony, he only said a few words.
But a lecture would take at least two hours, requiring him to speak non-stop.
That's taking too long; he really doesn't seem to have much patience.
"Would you like giving lectures?" she asked cautiously.
Looking at his girlfriend who was caught in a dilemma, Meng Yanxi suddenly felt quite good.
"I guess I like it," he said, a mix of conservatism and a touch of arrogance.
But to Jin Zhao, the word "like" sounded quite unreserved, and she looked at him with distrust: "Really? I've never found any of your lectures online."
Meng Yanxi raised an eyebrow: "You searched me?"
Jin Zhao: "..."
Meng Yanxi chuckled: "That's probably because I've only recently started to enjoy giving lectures."
Jin Zhao: "Recently?"
Meng Yanxi: "To be precise, right now."
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Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! This chapter is 4k words long and has a lot of plot! Goodnight, muah!
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